Mew Galaxy 2: The Future of the Galaxy
by EternalFluffy
Summary: Ten years into the future, mysterious Mew Mews from another galaxy kidnap Jello, the daughter of Pie and Flan. It's the Mercury Mew Mew team to the rescue! (sequel to Mew Galaxy).
1. Lazy Day at the Lab

Okay…I'm back. (Takes a deep breath)This is a sequel, but I don't mind if you read this without first having read "Mew Galaxy". Just don't read it if you plan on reading the original Mew Galaxy after, because it will spoil the story for you…

There are going to be plenty of new characters in this story. It takes place 10 years after the end of Mew Galaxy. Just to let you know now, Mint, Lettuce, and Zakuro, as well as Ryou and Keiichiro aren't in this story at all. It will focus more on the new Mercury Mew Mew team, and the other aliens, including Kish later in the story. I also hope to write about Kish's and Tart's past sometime in this story…

One last, critically important thing… NO FLAMES!!! Please, if you don't like an aspect of my story, say, "I didn't really like the part when…" and give me some relevant suggestions on how to improve it. Don't just say "Why did you do that?! You are a terrible person!" If this problem persists, I will change my review settings back to signed only. Don't make me do this… ;; Please…I'm _extremely _sensitive. Respect others' feelings.

The warning is over. Tokyo Mew Mew and all characters are copyright Mia Ikumi and Reiko Yoshida. Jello and Flan belong to me.

---

Prologue

The people of Mercuritopolis stood, a clump of columns, staring in wonder. Among them, a tiny girl fought her way to the sky. She gazed up as the puffy clouds slowly drifted by. This wonderful world spread before her. Her future was waiting, the thousands of opportunities opening before her. History had been made, and as much as her destiny would push her in the other direction, it was just part of that moment, that grand connection. Then sun smiling down on her. She lifted her fuzzy head and returned the favor. Her lemon eyes drove back at that sunshine. Then, her lips formed, all on their own, and a word slipped from their end. "Magichemist."

The tall lady draping herself in cloth, hidden from the world stepped next to this girl. "What did you just say, dear?"

The tiny girl giggled and looked up at her apartment mother. "Magichemist!" she cried again. The daughter was only three, she couldn't know a word like that…

The lady lifted her head, through the forest of green hair that fell softly down her back. She did not wish to reveal herself to the public again. Only a select few even knew she was alive, but she wished to reveal herself for the first time, in that similar essence. And at that moment, she knew she had made the correct decision. It was what all the future members must experience. With this awakening, she turned now to the little girl. She wished to start over, to experiment with the other path. Now, it might already be too late for the next one. It was now, or the planet's future magic workers may not have what it takes…

Her long robe swished in the newborn breeze. She slowly turned her back and her body began to flicker.

"Mommy?" The girl glanced up. Her stubby, premature ears seemed to move downwards as she frantically searched for something to help her mother. "Mommy!"

At last, the flickering stopped, as the lady disappeared from the mass once again.

Tears burst from the sunshine. She fell to the soft grass, the memories rekindled by that hue. "Mommy!!!" From the surrounding area, while the masses mumbled prayers of thanksgiving, the little girl wept, her tears mingling with those of her kin. And while the world was now dry, the situation was noticed, and addressed on the breath of this mysterious wind. "Typical."

---

Chapter 1: Lazy Day at the Lab

It had been written on scrolls, depicted in paintings, learned in history class, reenacted in screenplays, told over and over again to young children, and had even founded an entire religion- Percipitism. It had only been ten years. Not even a decade had passed, yet an entirely new civilization had risen and taken over the predominantly secretive, harsh lifestyle that existed for 2,999,999 years before that one event, that one day. It was a new world- a world in the light. This was the White Age on the planet Mercury.

The planet had the look of a young Earth. Yes, there were many houses and business buildings that had been erected now that supplies were plentiful. Still, the majority of the planet's surface area was covered with long, flat plains, vast oceans, dense forests, and craggy mountaintops. The temperature was comfortable, not cold, but not sizzling hot. A faint breeze blew the stalks in the farm fields, creating morphing and easily differing patterns. Agriculture, which had been impossible in the Dark Ages, now flourished.

As a result, the health of the Mercurian had greatly improved. In the Dark Age, Mercurians were generally pasty, sickly-looking creatures. Nowadays, when one was pale, it was a sign of illness. The Mercurians were generally more human-like, excepting their long elfish ears, which they still retained. Their pupils, however, once long vertical slits, had begun to thicken in the next generation. The need to see in the pitch-blackness of underground tunnels was no longer crucial to the species' survival. Eventually, scientists predicted that the Mercurian race would one day be so close to the human race that members of the two species would be able to reproduce, give blood, and maybe even transplant organs. Mercurian eardrums could be used to assist the hearing impaired on Earth. They could also be used for vaccinations, as Mercurians were immune to some diseases that affected humans and vice versa.

Speaking of scientists, the official laboratory of Mercury was located at a vantage point near both the forest and the ocean. These landscapes had not been named, so they were referred to by number. These particular two were Jungle 5 and Ocean 2. The labs had been purposely placed here, where it would be simple and convenient to obtain information from the many plant and animal life forms of these two regions.

Also in the White Age, the former monarchial government of Mercury had been abolished, although the last king, King Jubala Blue, still lived. The land was now governed under a President, with his group of five Associates.

One thing that had remained the same in this whirlwind of change was clothing. Although there was really no necessity for it, the Mercurians had withheld their traditional loose-fitting garb, often with long, floating ribbons flapping in the back. Floating was still taught to the children, and it seemed the Mercurians' natural anti-gravity chemicals were still being passed on.

In the official laboratory of Mercury, each scientist still had his or her own lab in which to conduct experiments and process information. The large building also contained a round conference room where scientists met to discuss the current problem or any findings they had uncovered.

In just one of these rooms, one of those people was working feverishly at that very moment. His long white lab coat covered most of his body, but his outfit was still visible- a long, loose shirt with a pointed collar and baggy pants. There were no sleeves, but little fabric cuffs wound around his wrists. He leaned over the table, sticking out his tongue and concentrating. His large hands reached out, gripping his glass-marking pencil. A long auburn braid hung down his back, shifting back and forth as he moved from the working area to the data sheet. This particular scientist was quite young- one of the youngest in the whole institution. "Aaugh, darn it!" he cried as the numbers on the sheet didn't match up with the results in front of his face. He sighed and rested his fluffy head in his gloved hand.

A soft tapping noise echoed from around the corner. A pair of thin padded shoes were tapping their way across the cold floor towards the desk. A little girl emerged from around the corner. She wore a small brownish, puffy dress, long green ribbons trailing behind her. Her large pink eyes blinked and she smiled as she approached the scientist's desk, slipping a case of test tubes onto its end. The little girl brushed her shoulder-length, silvery hair that curled at the ends and stared expectedly at the scientist.

"Thanks, Jello," he replied, barely lifting his head from his hands. "You've been a great assistant today. I'm sorry, I'm just frustrated right now."

Jello grinned knowingly. She rose up on the tips of her black slip-ons to gaze at the work on the desk. After a few minutes of careful scrutinizing, Jello slipped back down to her normal level. "Well," she processed. "You shouldn't have put the moisturizing liquid in with the sample if you wanted to follow this sheet. That threw everything else off."

The scientist slowly turned his head, smiling in desperation. "Here's an idea," he at last spoke up. "Why don't _you _head research from now on."

Jello's big peach eyes lit up and her large elf ears perked up. "_Really_?! Can I? Can I?"

The scientist sighed and looked back at Jello. "Nah. Your father would kill me if I let you touch any of the lab equipment, even though I know you could do a better job than me."

Jello's little hopeful face fell. She crossed her arms. "Well, stop being sarcastic like that. I really thought you'd let me finish the job."

The scientist chuckled and put a hand on top of Jello's grayish head. "Aw, c'mon, Jello. You know how I like to kid you." He sighed and sat back in his chair. "You don't have to worry. You're a genius already, and you're only six years old. One day, you'll be the best scientist this institution ever saw." He looked up at the ceiling and sighed a second time.

Jello began reaching above the desk and inspecting the objects sitting on its top. Her eyes fell upon a framed photograph, sitting near its corner. She studied it for a moment and then scooped it up, staring at the people mysteriously captured in that circle forever.

The scientist yawned and stretched his white-sleeved arms. Although the lab coat covered most of his arms, the wrist cuffs were still visible poking out from the very edges of the sleeves. "It's getting late," he commented. "Maybe that's why I can't concentrate." He glanced over at Jello. "And your father should be here in a little while to take you back to your house."

Jello quickly hid the portrait behind her back and shook her head, her silvery curls bouncing. "I don't want to go back right now."

It was too late. Just at that moment, a tall Mercurian man wearing another lab coat over an upscale gray-purple suit entered the lab. His shaved, silvery head was the exact same hue as Jello's.

"Speak of the devil," the auburn-haired scientist continued.

"Hey, sweetie," the man called. "You been a good assistant today?"

"Hi, Daddy," Jello said, slightly disappointed.

"Now what's the matter?" the man asked, stepping closer.

"She's disappointed," the scientist replied. "I told her that she could finish the research, and she thought I was serious."

The man smiled and looked down at the notes and experiments on the table. "Well, if you were following this data sheet, you shouldn't have put the moisturizer into this sample…"

"Yeah, your daughter already told me that," the young scientist replied. He frowned. "I'm not as good at this as you used to be. I think you were mistaken when you said I was intelligent and should take over your position in this field." Jello's father sat down next to his friend and tousled his hair. It fluffed up around his head and he groaned in annoyance. "_Pie_…" he complained. "I thought you promised that you wouldn't do that anymore. I'm not a little kid anymore, you know."

Pie smiled. "I know you aren't. You're 18 now. But you'll always be a little brother to me."

"Yup," little Jello spoke up. "He's not _really_ my uncle, but he's my Uncle Tart."

"Ah, stop teasing me," the scientist named Tart said, embarrassed. "It's _my _job to do the teasing."

"Okay," Pie said, turning back to his daughter. "You ready to go, Jello?"

"Uh…alright," Jello hesitantly answered. She pushed the picture frame further back towards the desk.

"Oh?" Pie spoke up, stepping closer to her. "What's that you've got behind your back, sweetie?"

Jello blushed a little. She turned back to the scientist, who was beginning to clean up after his experiment. "Uncle Tart?" she began to ask. "I was just curious…who are the people on this picture?" The photo in the oval frame showed a small Mercurain boy with reddish hair in a suit on the lap of a green-haired preteen boy Mercurian in a wheelchair. A little blond girl in a puffy dress gripped the wheelchair arm while a pinkish-haired preteen girl in an elaborate pink and red dress and a peach-haired teenage girl Mercurian smiled together.

"Oh!" Tart cried, leaning over the desk to point out people in the picture. "That taller one in the back, not in the fancy dress, but the other one. Do you know who that is?"

Jello nodded. "She looks like Mommy."

Tart nodded. "Correct. That's your mother when she was sixteen." He pointed to the little boy sitting in the sickly Mercurian's lap. "And you know who this is?"

Jello squinted and studied the small Mercurian for a while. "_You_?"

Tart smiled. "Right again. See, I told you that you were a genius."

"Your hair was a lot shorter then," Jello commented.

"Well, I was a few years older than you in that picture." Now, Tart pointed to the small blond girl gripping the side of the wheelchair. "That's Pudding. She was my human girlfriend back in those times."

Jello looked up at him. "I didn't know you had a girlfriend, Uncle Tart."

"I _don't_," Tart admitted. "It's been a long time since I've seen her. She probably doesn't even remember me." Jello frowned as he pointed to the girl next to her mother. "This is Ichigo. Her power helped save this planet and bring about the White Age."

Jello's big pink eyes lit up. "Oh! She was the princess of Mercury, right? And she had unbelievably strong powers!"

"Well, we still aren't sure if Ichigo really is the Princess of Mercury," Tart interrupted. He pointed this time to the Mercurian boy in the wheelchair. "And this…was Kish Willows."

Jello's eyes were huge now in shock. "You…_knew _him, Uncle Tart?!"

"Knew him?" Tart replied. "I was one of his best friends." Of course, everyone knew the story of Kish Willows, who died and gave his spirit to save the planet. He had even been the unofficial founder of Percipitism, and the owner of the most sacred spot on Mercury- Willows' Hill.

Jello studied the photo a little closer. "Gee, he looks really sick…"

"Well, this picture was taken only a few days before he died," Tart added.

"…He's…making bunny ears behind you!"

Tart chuckled in response. "Well, that's Kish for you. Quite the jokester. At least towards the end he started to return to his normal self again."

Pie stepped behind Tart, and smiled, almost slyly at the picture frame. "Yes, I remember…and that's not the only picture either."

"Huh?" Tart cocked his head backwards to look up at him, wondering what he had up his sleeve this time.

"The others I took…" He glanced, stonily down at him, trying to get the message across while still playing this out. "I believe I've still got them at the house."

"Really?!" Jello cried, seizing the bait like a mouse hopped up on sugar. "Can we go home now? I want to see them!"

Tart flipped back into a normal position. "Good strategy," he mouthed to Pie, before turning back to Jello. "Well, it was nice having you, you little genius." He reached out and ruffled her hair, which instantly frizzed up on the top of her head. She glared daggers at her adopted uncle and tried to fix it while he laughed to himself. "See, now you look like that genius human guy with the weird hair! Oh, I always wanted to do that to somebody…"

Pie took Jello's hand and began to lead her to the doorway. "We'll see you tomorrow, Tart!" he called, waving slightly.

"Yeah, see ya," Tart replied. As the two figures left the room together, he quickly packed up his materials, shoving them in another drawer. Then, just before he was about to lock up the lab, his eyes settled back on that photograph.

Gazing wistfully at the young girl on the side, he couldn't stop his mind from wandering. Where was Pudding now? What was she doing? Did she still work at that café? What did she look like? Did she have a boyfriend? He tried to imagine Pudding his age, working in a circus, or some other performing group, with an unknown boy his age cheering her on. At last, Tart pulled away, switching the glowing overhead light in the laboratory off. The smiling little girl in the puffy dress was obliterated as the darkness covered her. It was no use now, he said with satisfaction. They had only been childhood friends, nothing more than that. What was the use in trying to contact her now, especially after all these years? Still, his mind instinctively kept on wondering…

---

The dark, unknown location glittered slightly with the presence of four entities. These people remained cloaked in shadow, although their legs poked from the bottom, emanating different rainbow colors. "Mistress," one female voice began the communication. "Please enlighten us about the nature of this visit."

A low, snakelike voice hissed out from a space nearby, blackened in this world's perpetual night. "You must capture the supporters," the female hiss was saying.

"Does this have anything to do with the Magical Guardian?" another of the cloaked girls inquired. The outline of her swept-up hair and thin face was barely visible against the black backdrop, which, for a moment flickered gray, as with sudden light.

"Yes…" the deep hissing replied. "She is one of them. You will capture her and bring her to me."

"What of the Unaware One? That who defies you?" a third voice interceded. "I believe that is what we should be concerning ourselves with."

The wind of the unknown creature whooshed out, assuring its little slave puppets. "Don't fret about that, dears. I know how to get that when the time comes…"

---

Little Jello Xenimis sat on her small canopy bed, carved out of the Mercurian tress. "Forest 4" a label precisely stated on the wood's side panel. If something were ever made out of the planet's new natural resources, it was recorded, so it could be replaced as soon as possible. If any object was without a mark or tag of some sort, indicating where its materials came from, it was considered illegally made, and thus disposed of.

At that moment, a small creature resembling a turtle with a flat tray shell crawled into the room. A glass of milk rested in the slot in the tray, so it wouldn't be jarred loose by the creature's movement. It rested at the end of her bed, sat down and tucked its wrinkled head in.

Jello smiled, and reached down to grab the glass. "Thanks, Trautle," she said to the creature, patting him on the back. Trautle raised his head and blinked his glassy eyes at her before lumbering back to the kitchen.

It was no wonder Jello was a six-year-old genius; both her mother and father had been brilliant scientists working for the king in the Dark Age. Jello herself had moved up. Even though she would normally be in kindergarten, she was quickly moved up to fourth grade when she came back from school one day, exclaiming, "I can't believe it! Those kids don't even know how to read!!!"

Since her father was the owner and most respected member of the laboratory institution, he often brought his creations home with him, if they would be beneficial to the family. Trautle was one of the many original species creatures that wandered around the Xenimis household. There were creatures that did the laundry, creatures that served breakfast, creatures that cleaned the house, and all they required was love, food, and shelter. Jello's personal favorite was the large, majestic Antennima Bird, which lived in their garage, and used only in desperate situations for transportation and sending particularly large packages. Regular messages were handled by the Pygmy Waiburn, a colorful moth, about half the size of her.

As Jello obediently sipped her glass of milk, a tall young woman stepped into her doorway, resting a hand on the doorframe. "Are you almost ready, Jello?" she asked, brushing back her long, pale pink hair, and smiling warmly.

"Almost, Mommy," she replied. "I've just got to finish the milk from Trautle." She drank a little faster, eager to get to school. She didn't really like school, since the fourth-graders regarded her as a baby visitor unworthy of their concern, but the sooner she got to school, the sooner she could get out of school, and the sooner she could work in Uncle Tart's lab.

Jello's mother, Flan, was a gentle lady only at the age of 26. She had given birth to Jello shortly after marrying Pie, at age 20. Jello greatly admired her mother's quiet strength and beauty and she loved to listen to her wonderful and magical stories about another planet called Earth. She always told her tales of the magical Mew Mews, six girls with super powers who safeguarded the planet, and Flan had been one of them. Their powers came from the extra animal genes that had been injected into their bodies, Flan explained one day, as her daughter questioned her.

"Mommy?" Jello had said, "Are there Mew Mews on Mercury?"

Flan sadly shook her head. "No, there is no more need for Mew Mews, now that our planet is beautiful and pristine. We can protect it by ourselves."

"So you can't use your powers anymore?" Flan nodded, much to her disappointment.

Little Jello was so intrigued by the mysterious magical girls, that she wondered if she could become one. Jello thought about this again, as she finished her milk and breakfast and went with her mother in a carriage to her school.

The Mercurians knew all too well the pollution damage cars created, so they refused to develop any kind of automobile, at least any that ran on gas. Electric and solar-powered vehicles were all the rage, and quickly becoming popular, although most Mercurians used carriages.

All day at school, Jello though about the Mew Mews. If only she could see one. All she wanted was to glimpse one of these special, magical girls for one second, in her colorful costume, or performing her special attack. Her mother was the only former Mew Mew on Mercury. To find any others, she'd have to go to Earth. Jello had seriously considered this option for a few days, but soon realized that she couldn't take off on her own. She knew she'd be able to drive on her own. Uncle Tart always bragged that he could fly a spaceship at the age of eight, and if he could do it then, she could surely do it now.

Jello walked down the stone corridor of her elementary school, lost in thought. Then, she remembered the night she had tried to research on her own…

---

The laboratory building was very dark. Jello knew she shouldn't be doing this, but still, she had to try. Hesitantly, she stepped into the room. This room was dark too. Although she knew it had to be connected with Uncle Tart's lab somehow, the darkness and suspense made her shiver. The backroom. Jello was forbidden to go into the backroom, even during her assistant hours.

The cloak of darkness lifted, as she recognized something glowing near the desk in the back. Breaking into a run, Jello aimed for that light, her thin padded shoes clicking against the marble of the floor.

The source of the glow was a large glass tube containing several pale jellyfish-like creatures. They floated along, peacefully, gently bumping against one another. Jello was entranced as she stared at those creatures. She just stared, pressing her small hands against the glass. "Wow…I wonder what those are. They're cute!"

Slowly, her hand reached up to the handled flap in the glass. These things didn't look all that dangerous…actually they looked uncomfortable, all cooped up in that tube. Maybe, if she let one of them go, it could be her friend. Finally, her young hand grasped the metal handle and yanked the flap open.

The creature closest to the door popped out, hovering in the air next to her. Jello flipped the door closed again and looked back at the floating creature. "Hello, there," she said with a smile. The creature's expression remained the same, a fixated open-mouthed smile. Its small, blank eyes stared, expressionless, at her. Upon closer observation, Jello realized that like a fish, the creature had no eyelids.

"Huh?" she said to herself. "What are you anyway? You look like a jellyfish, but jellyfish don't have faces, and they live in the ocean…" Jello studied the creature closely. She wished to unearth the secrets of the laboratory. Uncle Tart never let her come back here, and she was always frustrated. She wanted to prove that she was grown-up enough to handle scientific research.

Slowly, the creature levitated closer to her. Jello stared in wonder as it gently approached her. Finally, the creature sat contentedly on top of her head, its many tentacles tickling her head. Jello giggled as the creature continued to tickle her. "Augh!" she cried in the middle of a laughing fit. "I get it! You're a tickle monster!"

The creature made a strange, "whopping" noise as it nestled closer into her hair. Jello reached up and stroked its soft, pliable side. Once again, she wondered what was so terrible about these soft, innocent little creatures. What was the problem with her coming back here? There was nothing dangerous in the entire backroom. Jello closed her eyes and savored in the silent togetherness.

"JELLO!!!" a voice like an earthquake jerked her out of her serenity.

Jello wrenched her head upwards just in time to see a lavender streak yank the jellyfish-like creature from her head.

"Jello!" Now she could recognize the voice, as the panic and fear in it was replaced by anger and disappointment. She looked up into the face of her father, his features slightly crinkled, worriedly.

"D-Daddy?" she slowly said. "I…I'm sorry, I was…"

Pie's grip on the jellyfish parasite alien tightened, squishing its face in. "Didn't Uncle Tart tell you never to come back here?"

"Y-Yes," Jello said, sadly. She really didn't like to disappoint him like this, but she also wanted a chance to vie for her independence. Then, she noticed the half-squashed parasite alien in his hands, wriggling in desperation. "You're hurting him, Daddy!" she cried, reaching out to defend the creature.

Pie quickly held it out of her reach. Jello shivered as she looked at his long nails digging into the squishy creature. He was going to pop it…he was going to kill it! "Please!" Jello cried. "Don't kill him; he wasn't doing anything bad!" Small teardrops squeezed out from beneath her eyelids.

"Don't worry about this parasite," Pie replied, his voice cold. "Now…tell me what you were doing in here."

Jello's small body trembled, staring up at him. She thought she knew all about her father, and loved him very much, but she had never seen him like this before and it was beginning to frighten her. "I…I just…wanted to know what was back here. …Y'know, I get curious and…"

Pie snorted in frustration and turned his back. "Fine. I know how you kids are, but you have to promise me that you will _never_ come back here again. It's too dangerous."

The voice in Jello's head asked, "_Why_ is it dangerous?" but in her father's current agitated state, she dared not ask him. The small lavender-haired girl stepped meekly back through the laboratory doors. Then, when she was far enough away, broke into a run, whipping through the shining metal halls.

_Why_? That was the prevailing question in her head as she dashed out of the building. Why couldn't anyone trust her? Why were those jellyfish animals being held in a tube? Why were the backrooms so dangerous? Why had her father been acting so strange? She slowly sat down on the grass glistening in the moonlight, and leaned her back against the side of the plaster building, waiting until her mother or Uncle Tart came to find her. Jello curled her knees to her chest and stared up at the glowing sphere in the sky…just wondering. For no reason, she felt something wet slip across her cheeks as she embraced the darkness.

---

Back inside the secondary room to Tart's laboratory, was what Jello couldn't see. Images were racing through Pie's mind…horrible images of betrayal, of murder, and of injury. If there was one thing he wanted above all others, it was to keep his daughter safe. He didn't want her to go through the same agony that he had.

Pie clenched his teeth and slowly glanced down. The parasite alien, nearly pancake-flat now, writhed in his trembling hand. Aggravated at the sight, he seized the handle to the trapdoor on the tube, forcefully yanked it open, lobbed the wretched thing inside and slammed it closed. The flattened jelly produced various squeaking noises and desperately tried to swim, but ended up sinking to the bottom instead. Pie sighed in disgust, and hastily exited the room. He had more important things to do than hang around this horrible place any longer.

---

Just then, the elementary school's metal bell clanged, signaling the start of class time. Jello sighed. She was late again. Grudgingly, she dragged herself to the opaque window of her classroom door, and pushed it open to find a roomful of long-eared Mercurain students blinking at her and an angry female teacher in a formal dress. Here we go again, she thought.

---

"Why does that not surprise me?" The smirking face of Uncle Tart turned to tease Jello later that day.

Jello frowned and plopped a large stack of papers onto his desk, struggling under their weight. She stared out into the distance and crossed her arms, deep in thought.

"Oh, stop that," Tart advised, trying to cheer her up. "You look like grumpy old Pie when you do that." He reached over to tickle her, but she pushed his hand back.

"Uncle Tart…" she began to ask. "…What's so horrible about the back room?"

Tart retreated and stared at her, suddenly serious. "Well, that's where we keep the most dangerous chemicals and animals…it's not that I don't trust you, Jello, you're a very smart girl, but if something goes wrong…"

"I want to learn!" Jello suddenly burst out. "I want to be a scientist like you! I get some really good ideas sometimes! I want to help…preserve life!"

Tart blinked and reached down to place a strong hand on her young, round shoulder. "We all do," he stated. "But you needn't worry about that. You've still got plenty of years of childhood left. You should enjoy that while you've got it."

"Well, I don't!" Jello shot back. "I hate being a kid! I can't do anything, and no one takes me seriously. I have no friends at school, and everyone hates me…" Her large pink-hued eyes shifted to the floor, sadly.

Surprisingly, Tart's face softened into a slight smile again. "Oh, don't worry," he assured her. "You'll have friends. Eventually." Jello didn't look too reassured. At last, Tart sighed and gently removed his hand from her shoulder. "Well, I have to go back to the main supply closet and get a new calculator, because this one just broke down, and I'm not a living calculator, like your father."

"I'll go get it!" Jello called, cheering up a bit with the prospect of a new task.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go get it myself," Tart explained. "When receiving a new device from the front desk, the owner has to be there to sign for it." Jello's hopeful face fell. "But…" Tart added, to keep her happy and busy. "While I'm gone, you can put those papers over by the processors in the corner. 'Kay?" He rose from his desk and waved, cheerfully to her before stepping out into the hall.

Jello grumbled and grabbed the heavy stack of papers again, lugging them over to the "processor corner" where several machines that resembled typewriters sat, ready to suck up and process the data on whatever sheet was shoved into their receiver hole. "Go get those papers", "Bring me the tub of glass pieces", "I need you to bring this over to that corner". This was all she ever got to do.

Jello frowned again and glanced back at the desk, contemplating. She wanted a chance to do some _real_ work for once. But…would she have enough time? Staring at a sideways angle out of the doorway, she thought she recognized Uncle Tart's voice.

"Aaaugh! Geez, Custard, don't sneak up on me like that."

"Oh? Hello, Tart," a different voice spoke up. "Didn't mean ta scare ya. Anyway, how is that magnetic radiation testing going…?"

Jello seized her opportunity while the fellow scientists began to chat back and forth about environmental conditions. Her eyes searched the exterior of the desk. Now, what was she looking for? Skimming the labels on the fronts of the drawers, she read- "elements", "records", "supplies, "samples", "charts"…Jello stopped when she came to the final drawer in the second row- "genes". Her curiosity surged up once again, as her mother's words surfaced in her mind- "There were six magical girls with powers to defend the planet…these girls' powers stemmed from the genes of endangered animals inside of them…"

Without another thought in her head, Jello slammed open the "genes" drawer. She sifted through the different dividers that unquestioningly contained a sample of the genes of the animal on the label tab. Her forehead furrowed as she read the names with confusion: rat, Mickey, crow, Sparky, bacteria, manaster, vines, Pygmy Waiburn, fish, great white shark, Zenomoglin, Moligator, Gophit, Petal-Pusher, Xeno Jelly, spider, Snitchster, and Oxulozard Rex.

Jello had no idea what a Mickey, Sparky, Manaster, Zenomoglin, Moligator, Gophit, Petal-Pusher, Snitchster, or an Oxulozard Rex were, and the rest weren't very pleasing choices. Finally, she decided to just plunge in. She closed her eyes and randomly selected a folder with genes from the drawer. If she had the great white shark or the spider, she figured she'd just redraw, because there was _no way_ she was… Opening her eyes, Jello breathed a small sigh of relief, without really knowing if she _should _be relieved. The label on the envelope in front of her face read "Sparky."

Throwing a quick glance over her shoulder, she could still hear the scientist named Custard and Uncle Tart jabbering, though they seemed a little further away now. Jello's long ears twitched and she turned her attention back to the envelope. Her small fingers tightly gripped the top portion, ripping the flap open. She gently tipped the contents onto the desktop.

An injection needle sat on the polished wood. Jello shivered. She'd been warned several times in school of needles and the diseases they could carry at the elementary school's anti-drug talks, so she'd need to sterilize it first. Jello scanned the desk and easily found the drawer. She wiped a bit of cleaning solution onto its tip…then stared at it.

That was when it hit her- what was she doing?! Why was she trying to put something into her body without even knowing what it would do to her? It was pure madness. Did she really think it would give her magical powers? Little Jello stared down at the needle suspiciously, flipping the cold glass tube over between her fingers. What would happen once the genes were in her body? Would she reject them? Would she turn into a Sparky…whatever that was? Would she…live? This is madness, she finally decided, I can't believe I was actually going to do this to myself. I'm crazy! She reached down to shove the needle back into the envelope, but at the moment, her advanced hearing caught snatches of the conversation as it was ending…and then there were footsteps…coming _towards_ her.

Mind filling of defiant anger and determination, Jello suddenly blew all of her fear and doubt out the window. She closed her eyes, flipped her hair up, holding it above her head, and promptly inserted the needle into the back of her neck…and pressed the button down.

---

…Huh? Slowly, Jello blinked and glanced around. Where was she? She couldn't remember anything else happening after she had…inserted that needle. Had she gained any powers? Had Uncle Tart returned to the room?

Noticing the swirling psychedelic colors that surrounded her, a terrible thought struck her. Am I… Did I…die?! Sadness welled up in Jello's throat, but somehow she found herself unable to cry. The swishing, merging patterns around her comforted her sorrows.

There was something in her hands. Jello glanced down, for the first time noticing that her clothes were gone, and blushed, hoping no one could see her. The thing in her hands turned, staring up at her with its little round, blank eyes. Now, Jello's eyes were also staring wide. "Y-You're that little creature that I…"

The jelly parasite stared up at her for a moment more, and then swam…right into her body, passing through her skin like a ghost.

Jello's eyes instantly began to droop. "Wha…what's going on here?" she asked feebly, before curling up on what seemed to be the floor and drifting off into what she hoped was sleep.

---

From that same warped, dark dimension, one hand reached up and squeezed a golden locked inscribed with a certain heart symbol. "I feel it," a bland, computer-like voice stated.

"Yes," said another dull voice. There was a flicker of green and someone tapping at a keyboard.

"Location pinpointed. Shall we launch an attack, Mistress?" There was a silent pause as the girls in the shadows all waited for their hissing leader to answer.

"Yes," the cold, snake-like voice at last spoke up. "Bring her here to this planet. That should force the others to emerge, and then, when we eliminate them, the planet will be left vulnerable. As well as the Unaware One."

The female members nodded in agreement, and got to their feet, a mysterious essence wrapping around them, transporting them across the universe.

---

Tart nonchalantly strolled down the corridor back towards his laboratory, a small device clutched in his hand. Despite being the youngest and most inexperienced of the scientific crew, he was quite popular. Although some members couldn't stand his friendly antics and willed curses upon his person, most agreed that he lightened up the place. Tart loved to be in touch with his fellow workers, even old-timers, like the man Custard he had just spoken to. He tried his hardest to bring them all together, like a working family. So, Tart was feeling pretty good as he returned. Maybe Jello wouldn't be so depressed, and they could have some fun while he worked…or, that is, _tried _to work.

He stepped back into the darkened room, grinning. "Greetings!" he called, cheerfully. "It is I, your fearless leader, back from the realm of the storage!" Then, Tart stopped his joking and looked worriedly around the room when there was no response. "Jello?" he asked, stepping closer to his desk.

Softly illuminated by an overhead lamp, Jello lied motionless against the desk, her chin sitting on the top, limply. The needle had fallen from her neck, sitting guiltily on the dark ground, a bit of blood on its tip.

Tart's brown eyes grew wider and turned slightly yellow. "…_Jello_?!" The calculator slipped out of his hand and he took a step forward to help his adopted niece, but he never got the chance. "Aaugh!" Tart yelled in shock as the ceiling suddenly came crashing in. He lunged forward to protect Jello, but just before he reached her, a pair of long, thin arms with small blue gloves yanked her body away from his grasp.

Tart yanked his head up, trying to catch a sight of the kidnapper, but all he could see was a pile of rubble from the ceiling. "Wh-Who are you?!" he cried, tossing the boards and metal bars off of him. "And what are you doing to my niece?!"

"Your niece?" A cold, droning voice shot back at him. A woman floated just above the rubbish of the lab, holding the unconscious Jello in her arms. Tart stopped short, his eyes now even wider as he gasped at the lady. She looked…almost exactly like the former Mew Mew, Mint. Those blue hair buns, that blue tube dress, those small plastic-like wings. Her small blue eyes were dark and expressionless, and the one strange feature was that the edging on her Mew Mew choker, cuffs, and garter was pure black.

"So this goofball is related to the Magical Guardian?" another one, this time exactly matching Zakuro, but with black edging responded.

"No," the one that resembled Lettuce answered, tapping on a tiny microcomputer that appeared in her hand. "They have no bloodline relationship whatsoever."

Tart stared intensely at the one that resembled Pudding. She was older, about eighteen, though she still wore her trademark miniature braids. "So…" she spoke up. "He is useless." For some reason, Tart felt a pang of rejection as he stared into her eyes…they were so…sharp and hard. That wasn't how he imagined Pudding at all, even in an older version.

"Pudding?" he asked, a bit dazed. "That's not really you…is it?"

The young lady scowled at him. "What the…? I don't know you. And who's Pudding?"

Tart felt relieved, although he knew he shouldn't be in the midst of this disaster. She wasn't Pudding. But…if she wasn't Pudding, who _was _she? "But aren't you Mew Mews?" he objected.

"Of course we are," the evil Mint leader replied. "We are the Mew Mews of the Sphere Star Galaxy here to help our Mistress take over this planet of yours."

"What are you doing with Jello?!" Tart called, aggravated and confused.

"We're taking her prisoner," evil Mint replied again. "Of course. You really don't know anything, braid boy."

Tart had had enough. He was burning with anger now, and ready to take it out on these Mew Mew imposters. "Give her back!!!" he yelled, flying up to meet them. A streak of yellow light built up in his hands. "Bolt of Lightning!" he summoned, throwing the electricity blast at the fake Mew Mews. They easily flew out of the path of the electric surge.

"What a weak attack," the fake Zakuro scoffed. "Is that all you've got?"

Tart gritted his teeth, about to throw some insulting comment back at her in his defense, but there were none. That _was_ all he had, and he painfully realized that there was no way he could win against four Mew Mews by himself. "It doesn't matter!" he yelled instead. "I won't let you take her!" he desperately shot another bolt at them, but they just jumped out of the way again. Not knowing what else to do in his fit of fury, Tart just flew forward, lunging at them with his fists.

At that moment, the four women disappeared completely, taking little unconscious Jello with them.

Tart was going too fast, and whacked hard into the wall, causing more pieces of the ceiling to crash down into the expanding sea of rubble. He slipped down to the floor in pain. He sat, gingerly on the ground and stared up through the gaping hole in the ceiling at the sky. "…Jello…" he said, distantly. By this time, there had been an emergency declared, and the head scientists rushed to Tart's lab in a panic.

"Tart!!!" Pie yelled, rushing into the dilapidated lab, his long white lab coat fluttering behind him. He approached his friend on the other side of the mess and kneeled beside him. "What happened?! Where's Jello?! _Jello_!!!" Pie began searching the room, throwing aside metal chunks of the ceiling and long plaster planks like the panicked father he was, calling his daughter's name over and over, praying to hear some response.

"She's gone," Tart finally informed him, ashamed to admit it. She had been under his care; he shouldn't have left her alone in the lab. He should have saved her from those evil Mew Mew imposters! This was all his fault!

Pie whipped back around, his normally stony features flustered and crinkled. "What do you mean, she's _gone_?!?!" he yelled. "You were watching her!!! WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?!?!"

Tart backed a little away. Pie almost looked like he could kill him right now. "She was kidnapped," Tart slowly explained, trying to calm his hysteric friend, but it wasn't working.

"Kidnapped?! By who?! Where'd they take her?! Why didn't you stop them?!"

"I…it wasn't my fault," Tart tried to defend. "I had to go to the storage section to get a new calculator, and when I came back…"

"Why didn't you take Jello with you?!?!" Pie interrupted.

Tart closed his mouth and stared, worriedly at the ceiling. That was a good question. Why hadn't he been thinking straight? It was probably because Jello was so mature for her age; he figured he could count on her to stay out of trouble while he ran an errand. It was his fault, and being kidnapped wasn't much better than being killed. He didn't know where Jello was, or what they were planning on doing with her. She could be dead already for all he knew! Tart sighed and looked, distressed away from the depressing scene behind him. "I know. It's my fault. It's almost like…I killed her. Though she may not be dead…" he stared up into the mysterious blue sky again. "_We are the Mew Mews of the Sphere Star Galaxy…_"

At last, Pie softened a little and stepped up beside him, the look of confusion and worry still apparent. "Tart…what happened?"

Tart sighed. "You're right, I was acting reckless again, and left the lab to get a new calculator. When I returned, Jello was slumped against my desk, unconscious. I don't know what happened to her, but then the ceiling came crashing in like this, and a group of mysterious woman who looked jus like the Mew Mews came and kidnapped her." Pie gave him a questioning look, but Tart was too wrapped up in his own self-criticism to notice. "I…tried to fight them off, but as you know, all I have is that lightning attack you gave me, and when I tried to hit them, they teleported away and I crashed into the wall…" as he remembered the accident, he reached up to rub a slightly red spot on his forehead from where it had hit the wall.

Pie stared at him. "Mysterious women who…looked like the Mew Mews?"

Tart nodded, "Yeah, it sounds crazy, but they were there! They said…they came from the Sphere Star Galaxy, for their Mistress or something…and they were taking Jello prisoner."

Pie frowned. "Well…prisoner. Hopefully, that means they're not going to kill her." He turned back to the doorway and barked the order to the other scientists gawking at them. "Don't just stand there! I want that Sphere Star Galaxy located and identified right now!"

The others promptly scurried off to work, as Pie was the head of the institution, and they felt obliged to do everything he said.

Pie took a deep breath and looked up into the sky. "We'll get her back," he said, with sudden determination.

Tat glanced sideways at him. "How?" he asked. "Are we going to go to that Sphere Star Galaxy?"

"No, no," Pie told him, almost as if he was saying, "Don't worry." Tart was a little perplexed. Just a few minutes ago, Pie looked ready to murder someone, and now he seemed almost…excited and antsy. He looked back at him, grinning mysteriously, a glimmer in his violet eyes. "Oh, I have a few ideas."

---

Though nobody noticed, when the ceiling collapsed, it fell straight onto the outstretched drawer in Tart's desk. A small manila package catapulted through the air. It sailed right above the tree in Jungle 5, entering city territory.

Then, just as it reached a small alleyway, it hit the stone floor with a small clink. The top was yanked open by the force of the wind…and a small needle fell out. It landed, nose-first in the ankle of a sleeping girl…and, tossing in her sleep, she pressed its contents in.


	2. Bird of Prey

See last chapter for disclaimer. The only things in this story I own are Jello, Flan, and (in this chapter) Lori.

Yeah, I had to up the rating for this story just for this chapter and its Lori-ness. PG-13, peoples! I usually never write things like this, because I'm such a nice little girl (not), but it was necessary for Loraine's character. Yes, I also know the character of Kish's sister has been done many times before, and I guess I did kind of steal the idea, but Lori has a distinct personality, and…I can't believe no one thought to name a sister of Kish Lorraine! Quiche-lorraine… get it? It's a French dish… I've been studying too much French lately…

Thanks for the reviews, Krys and Fuzzy! I love you too.

I have really bad news, but I'm going to put this story on hold for a little while. Don't kill yourself, Fuzzy (lol). I want to finish my other ones first. That will give me more time later to focus just on this story and make it the kind of quality you expect. Perhaps I'll be more motivated to write more once I see "Mew Mew Power", or, then again, it _is _"Mew Mew Power"… So, if I'm on your Author Alert list for this story, just ignore the next eight or so updates I make, because they'll be for other stories. Thanks for understanding.

---

Chapter 2: Bird of Prey

_Yawn_. Stretch, stretch. In a remote corner of New Mercuritopolis, a young teenage girl sat on her familiar wooden crate, eyes staring straight past the flickering screen in front of her.

"The noble families of Glittel and Mysmir still remain in a state of emergency, as they search for their missing heirs…"

The girl yawned again, as strangers' faces filled the small box. There was never anything good on television. Of course, she knew of the mighty families, the Mysmir, which owned the Mysmir boating company, dedicated to exploring the relatively new seas, and the Glittel family, which now owned the vast Glittel Estates, but they were far-away matters that she knew would never concern her. What would a poor self-sufficient girl like her have to do with two ultra-wealthy families? Personally, she thought they were all heartless misers and deserved to fall. Everyday, you heard of the noble families, who had fared so well under the last King Jubala's wing, now struggling to establish a franchising empire, with heirs. It was about time, she thought.

The girl sucked on a finger and gazed absentmindedly out the window where a faint breeze played with her long forest-green hair. She wondered about her own family. She knew her full name- Lorraine Willows, so she thought she might be related to Mercury's honored savior, Kish Willows. At least she liked to tell everyone that she was, even though she had no idea. There could be several families with the last name "Willows".

Lorraine shook her head and pulled her swollen finger out of her mouth. Once again, she was straying from the urgent matter at hand- and that was that she was out of a job. Scowling, Lorraine looked away from the window, recalling the circumstances that had brought her here…

---

Lorraine stood on the long wooden stage, slicked up with polish. Mechanically, she performed the dance steps her troupe of entertainers had been performing for the past two weeks. Lorraine frowned angrily, thinking of how boring and dull this was, as her puffy, multicolored flower costume swished in the iridescent light of the overhead spotlights. She'd been dancing at this same old café ever since the age of 7. Lorraine huffily threw out her bedecked hip. It was time to spice things up, time to break away from the norm, time to rebel against these ever-repeating motions.

And that's when she spotted him. He was your everyday teenage Mercurian boy, his baggy shirt illuminated in the stage lights, but he was looking at her.

She took a step into an empty spotlight, twirling her arms gracefully above her head and shimmying. There was an abrupt pause in the dance routine, as the others wondered what was going on. Lorraine smiled. Now all the attention was on her, and not on that hideous, monotonous exercise. She looked into the eyes of that teenage boy, and he stared back, as if in a trance. Well, how could he _not_ look at her, since she was the only one bathed in spotlight now, and sliding seductively closer to the end of the stage.

Lorraine slinked along downstage, hips swaying in time with the music. Once again, she looked over at the same boy, giving him a raised-eyebrow glare. How come she hadn't noticed before how sexy he looked, bathed in the reddish-yellow haze of the overhead lights? Finally, she reached the edge of the stage. He was right there, staring breathlessly up at her. She remained fixed on him, trying to see down his shirt, but it wasn't working. She'd have to get a little closer…

Without thinking of anything else, Lorraine slowly slid her body from the stage, wrapping her legs around the teenage guy's waist and her arms around his neck. Her heart pounded with excitement. She knew what she should do now, and leaned closer, preparing to kiss him.

At last, the boy managed to wrench her from his waist, flinging her to the ground. "Let go of me, you dirty (EDIT)! I have a girlfriend!!!" Of course, this caused quite a scene, and the crowd all turned to look either at the guy, barreling out the café doors, or at Lorraine, lying speechless on the floor.

The blurry stage lights merged and shifted as she stared up at them. What would she do _now_? She just wanted to stay on the floor here forever, feeling the throbbing of her backside and imagining… A snide comment bounced around in her head- "Oh look, they've made another one. The geniuses." Although, she had no idea what that meant.

Later that night, the manager fired her and threw her out of the dancing troupe, as much as she whined, begged, or screamed her head off. The manager didn't want to be sued for sexual harassment, so he had to get rid of her now. Lorraine had wandered the streets for the rest of the night before coming to this abandoned building and claiming it as hers.

---

Now…here was her problem. She had to get some other kind of job, because without money, she couldn't survive. Lorraine glanced around the room. What could she do? She felt that no one would hire her as a dancer now, but she had to at least try, right? Putting her pointer finger up to her mouth, as she always did when she was thinking, Lorraine tried to find a solution to her problem. "Hey, I know!" she suddenly lit up, as the idea came to her. "I could make this building a…"

SLAM! Suddenly, a heavy book fell from a shelf high above, landing with that terrible slapping noise. Even though it was heavy, it seemed to make a lot more noise that usual.

"Darn, I don't remember seeing that book there," Lorraine said to herself, getting up to place it back on the shelf. Just as she did, a very different new report came on.

"And, as a special message from the Research Institute, we ask- 'are you looking to make some money?"

Lorraine's pointy ears perked up and she instantly turned back around to the screen. _Well, yes I am…_she thought, _but that doesn't concern you._

"The Xenimis family, whose daughter was kidnapped yesterday at roughly 4:30 PM, asks everyone for your help in rescuing the girl. In fact, the family offers a 1,000 uboo paycheck to whoever will go to the Sphere Star Galaxy and help rescue Jello Xenimis…"

"Wow!" Lorraine couldn't help crying out. "1,000 uboos…a week!" At her last job, she had only been making 30 a week. "And I'd get to go to another galaxy! That sounds like so much fun!!!" So, when the address flashed across the screen, she quickly grabbed a pen and paper and wrote it down. Excited and giddy at the prospect of a new, high-paying job, Lorraine skipped through the house, grabbing a pen, in case they asked her to fill out an application, and changed into her brown belly shirt with the puffy sleeves, and short miniskirt with padded light green shoes, their ties twisting around her legs.

Lorraine shook her hips and watched the stringy bows on the side of her skirt bounce. She wanted badly to break into a dance routine, but there were much more important things to be done. On her way towards the door, she gathered a tube of lipstick, carefully gliding the red color over her lips. If she couldn't get the job based on past records and experience, she'd have to get it based on physical attraction.

Passing a mirror sitting on the box table she'd constructed, she bent over to get a look at herself. In vanity, she puckered her lips and tried to look pretty. Instead, she only looked even trashier. Lorraine, however, was blind to these definitions, and giggled excitedly at her reflection. She then skipped out the door of her humble warehouse, oblivious to her past accusations, her revealing appearance, and the grand journey she was about to undertake.

---

"31 Merrund Road…31 Merrund Road…" Lorraine tightly clutched to the piece of paper with the address on it. She wasn't very good with directions, and had been down several other streets already, looking for the place. In the process she'd also knocked on the doors of 31 Morrice Road and 31 Merric Road, only to be quickly shooed away by an angry mother and an old man with a staring problem.

"Merrund…_Merrund _Road…" At last, her large, lime green eyes fell upon a street sign, that despite the stamp of "Forest 2" near its lower left corner, clearly read- "Merrund Rd."

"Merrund Road!!!" Lorraine exclaimed. She shakily gazed back down at the piece of scrap paper directions in her hand. "Now I've just got to find 31. That's all! And then I'll be rich!" She squealed like an air-headed schoolgirl and floated, confidently down the soil road.

The Mercurians didn't believe in paved streets, viewing it as a sign of the beginning of pollution, but it didn't really matter to them. They could always just float to their destinations, except for young children that hadn't learned how to float. Usually by the age of nine, every Mercurian knew how to float. Lorraine didn't fly most of the time, because she thought it was more fashionable to walk, and because anyone walking beneath her could see up her skirt when she flew.

"2…4…6…8… Who do we appreciate? Whoever's giving me this job!" Lorraine hummed along to her own spontaneous tune as she searched for the house. "Oh, wait, I'm on the wrong side, aren't I? 15…17…19…21…only ten more!" Since no one else was around, she decided to do a joyful half-spin in midair, celebrating prematurely. "25…27…whooooaaa…"

Further up the street was the biggest and most elaborate house she'd ever seen in real life. "Gee, I wonder who lives there…29…" she was very close to the semi-mansion now, and marveled up at the ornate windows, pillars at the entrance, four floors, and the giant garage. The yard even had a big stone statue of a girl with cat ears in the front, water spewing from her heart-shaped bowl and into the pool below. Lorraine gaped at the silent, stately manor, interrupted only by the trickle of the cat girl's water bowl.

"Wait…this can't be…" Hesitantly, her soiled, underprivileged slippers walked the sparkling stone trail up to the majestic front door. She blinked, unbelievably at the gilded, glistening numbers fastened to the house's side panel. _It_ is! She thought with a panic. _This is 31 Merrund Road!!!_

Lorraine suddenly felt an uneasy flutter in her stomach. Would she really be accepted at this prodigious estate? It was almost as if those noble families in the news had suddenly become a reality right in front of her. For a second, Lorraine even considered ducking out and fleeing back to her lowly shambles, but the thought of a possible 1,000 uboo paycheck pushed her forward. It forced her hand up, and pressed her log-nailed finger to the soft, light-up button next to the doorway.

She waited in misery and anticipation as whoever was inside came to greet her. The long pause only heightened her apprehensions. As she stood on the expensive porch, she thought she heard what sounded like the cry of a hawk off in the distance. Lorraine stared back at the fancy decorated door, and thought, hopefully, _maybe they're not home_. Unfortunately, a moment later, that same piece of carved wood began to fold inward.

On the other side was a woman with long, elegant pale pink hair, reaching beyond her waist. Lorraine was stricken dumb as she observed her. She was beautiful- from her shining hair, and her lovely, fancy dress, to her young, kindly face. She had to be only in her twenties. The woman smiled at her. "Well, hello, young lady. What brings you here? Not an autograph, I hope, we're awfully busy…"

"Uh…uh…n-no," Lorraine stuttered, looking into her warm pink-colored eyes. "I…I'm here for that job…you know, the one to um…travel the galaxy…and…stuff…" She'd been so distracted by the number 1,000, that she'd forgotten exactly what this job entailed.

The lady blinked. Then, upon recognizing the motive, smiled again. "Oh! You're here to be in my daughter's search party!"

"Y-Your daughter?" Lorraine squeaked, now growing even more nervous. This rich lady was expecting her to find her daughter…

"Come on inside," she said. "My husband is upstairs right now, but I'm sure he'll be willing to hear your application."

Lorraine gulped. _Application_? She hadn't even prepared a speech of any kind. _This is wrong_, she thought, _I shouldn't be here, _but some strange, inner voice, the same one that had spoken to her on the day she was fired, kept telling her that she did.

"Right up those stairs," the lady explained, gesturing to a spiral staircase on the right as she led her desperate guest into the home. "That will bring you to the fourth floor. He'll be in the first door to the left of the top. Good luck."

Lorraine nodded, playing along as if she knew what she was doing. Then, shakily and apprehensively, she began to climb the plush carpeted stairs. Her hand clung tight to the cold, polished wooden railing, and her mind raced with all sorts of dreadful thoughts. Who was this "him" that the lady kept talking about? Wait, that was right, she had said, "my husband". But who _was_ her husband? Glancing at her surroundings, she pictured the man of this house to be a grim, tough army general, or a penny-pitching miser, since those were the stereotypes she associated with wealth.

At last, just when her legs were beginning to ache from the stair-climbing exertion, she reached the head of the stairs, and stepped off into a quiet, office-like hallway. "Gee…" Lorraine whispered to herself. "This is like some kind of business, almost like they say the king's palace used to be." Remembering the mistress's instructions, she turned to her left, and spied a wooden door with an opaque window. Slowly, she stepped up to it.

Now, she felt it wasn't the money that had brought her here. There was something important to be done…something was waiting for her. She had to fulfill her mission. Then, at last taking control of her own situation, Lorraine knocked on that mystery door, and slipped inside.

There was a big, shiny desk, like every prestigious office should have, and one chair sitting in the back for visitors. Various painting reproductions hung on the side walls.

That was when it suddenly struck Lorraine. She gingerly stepped into the room and realized with sudden horror that she hadn't been listening close enough. Was this…Mr. _Xenimis_?! Mr. Xenimis, head of the Mercury Research Facility- Mr. Xenimis, the _Associate_?! Lorraine shivered as she glanced up at the man behind the giant desk. He plucked a thin pair of spectacles off his face as he lifted it from a stack of neatly organized papers on that shiny desk. Lorraine silently gulped as his icy dark purple eyes glared back at her.

"What do you want, young lady?" His voice was even more intimidating than his eyes. Now Lorraine could barely speak, and she had to avert her eyes in order to find the courage to answer.

"Um…the…j-j-job offer…"

"Oh," Mr. Xenimis replied, his sharp, hardened face softening a bit. "So you want to be part of the search-and-rescue party?"

Search-and-rescue party? Why hadn't Lorraine heard these parts of the job description? Even though she had long, sensitive ears, her selective hearing had only picked up the words "1,000 uboo paycheck" and "go to the Sphere Star Galaxy". She meekly nodded back at the man, and he motioned to the side of the room as soon as she did.

"Okay, then. Come here, Craush."

Lorraine hadn't noticed the little dog door at the back of the room on the right wall, but she certainly did when a strange silver-and-red crab came scuttling through it. Her light green eyes widened as she watched the crab grab onto the chair's legs with its clamp-like claws and push it up on the other side of the desk. She continued to stare, skeptically at the little silver crab as it unhooked itself from the chair and stood next to it, expectantly. It was a common rumor on different political criticisms that Mr. Xenimis kept mutant crossbred animals as slaves in his estate…and it was apparently true! The breath stopped up in Lorraine's throat, although in her panic, she didn't even notice that she was not breathing.

"Well…take a seat…" Mr. Xenimis told her, impatiently, probably wondering what was wrong with seeing a silvery crab pull up a chair for her.

Lorraine tiptoed around to the left, trying to avoid the unusual creature as much as possible, and finally sat down in the plush, polished chair.

He noticed her nervous movements and pushed his mouth into a thin smile. "Don't be afraid of Craush; he's a helper, he wouldn't hurt anyone." At that moment, the chair crab somehow walked up the side of the desk, and sat on it, just in front of them. Mr. Xenimis patted its top shell, then finally looked back at Lorraine. "So…what's your name?"

"L…L-L-Lorrrrrr…" He raised an eyebrow at her as she continued struggling to pronounce her own name. "L-Lorrrrraine…Willows."

"Willows?"

That was when Lorraine recognized her only advantage…her (possible) family roots! "Yes!" she cried, suddenly jumping up in confidence. "I'm related to Kish Willows!"

"Really?" Mr. Xenimis asked, his eyes widening a little. "How are you related?"

"Um…I'm not really sure…"

"Well, you look a lot like him." Lorraine shivered for a moment. She hadn't known she looked that much like Kish, since she'd never really seen a photograph of him. "You must be his cousin, or his niece or something…no one knows much about the Willows family. What are your parents' names?"

"I don't know," Lorraine truthfully answered. "I never knew my father and my mother left me when I was really little."

Mr. Xenimis tapped a long fingernail against his desktop in thought. He gazed into the distance, losing himself in the mystery of these people…

"Um…Mr. Xenimis?" Lorraine apprehensively addressed him. Her courage was a little stronger now, and she needed to find out the finer details of this job she was applying for.

"Please," he replied. "Call me Pie."

"Well, um…Pie…what exactly would I be required to do in this job?"

"Well, I can't give you all the specific details," Pie answered. "But it does require going to the Sphere Star Galaxy, perhaps fighting, training, exc. There'll be four other girls with you."

"So this job is only for girls?" Lorraine asked, a bit surprised. It usually wasn't right to discriminate by gender for job applications, and usually it wasn't the female gender.

At that exact moment, before Pie had a chance to answer her question, a Mercurian guy in his older teens burst through the door to the office, his long auburn braid bouncing, and looking quite distressed. "Pie!" he called, out of breath.

Pie quickly stood up from his office chair. "Tart?! Did something happen?"

"I-It's the Antennima Bird…" Tart started to say, taking a deep breath. "I don't know what's wrong…it's not moving…"

Pie glanced back down at Lorraine for a second. "I'm sorry, miss, you're going to have to wait a moment," he told her, and then, focusing hard on his own power, disappeared in a streak of light.

Tart, in the doorway, glanced curiously over at Lorraine before he too, transported out of the room.

Lorraine jumped up from her seat, accidentally knocking Craush from his platform on the desk. What was the "Antennima Bird" they had been talking about? Was this job really only for girls? Why was that? These questions were what drove her to dash out of the room and follow them. She also thought that Tart guy was pretty cute. Unfortunately, she hadn't learned to teleport yet, which was a bit behind most Mercurians her age, so in order to quickly find them, she jumped over the railing, and floated down the four stories, landing right in front of Mrs. Xenimis.

The startled woman jumped back. "Oh! Um…did you need something?"

"Where did they go?!" Lorraine cried, suddenly indifferent to the elegance and dignity of the mistress.

Somehow, she knew what she was talking about and replied with, "To the garage! I was just going there! Get a move on and help your friends!" She suddenly covered her mouth, looking slightly embarrassed. "Oh…I'm sorry, honey; for a moment, I thought you were someone else."

Lorraine stared in confusion for a second, before floating after the frantic lady. Only a minute later, the two of them flew up beside the giant garage Lorraine had first noticed on her way in. Briefly, she wondered why they were going to the garage to see a bird, but decided not to annoy or upset Mrs. Xenimis any more than she already was. As soon as she set foot inside the surprisingly clean, cozy garage, she received her answer.

There were no buggies, or cars, or hover machines of any sort, but a giant bird, resting against the ground. Tart stood to the side with his hands behind his back, worriedly, while Pie knelt next to the bird's head and checked its condition. Mrs. Xenimis rushed forward to talk to Tart, but Lorraine hung back.

Again, she wondered what in the world she was doing here. She should be back at the café, learning a new dance routine with her friends from the troupe. She didn't belong butting in on this family, and being a thorn in their sides. Still, there was something…something about this bird that she just had to see…that was somehow connected with her own life.

At last, Pie looked up from his examination and sighed, deeply. "He's gone." And everyone knew what that meant. The four spectators stared at the dead Antennima bird's body, in silent respect.

Slowly, Lorraine stepped closer to the body, unafraid of her own intrusion. She was right next to Pie now, looking sadly upon the large, limp creature.

Pie at last noticed her presence and turned his head towards her. "Lorraine? I…I thought I told you to stay in the office." The green-haired teenage girl didn't reply, but continued to stare in an unusually serious manner. "You _must _be related to Kish…" Pie spoke up. "There's no doubt about it now…"

A strangely familiar scene slowly blurred into Lorraine's mind. She was two years old, and her mother was talking to her… "Lori," the smooth, cultured female voice said gently to her. "You should be very proud. Your brother is fighting for our future, on Earth…at this very second."

"Yes…" she replied in a whispery voice, amazed at what she was suddenly able to recall. "…He's my brother."

At this statement, Pie's eyes began to strangely shine as a brilliant idea crawled into his head. "Kish's sister…Lorraine Willows…you've got the job."

Lorraine glanced over at him in confusion. How had she gotten the job? Just because she was Kish's sister?

Tart glanced over at Pie like he was crazy, but the scientist already had his mind set on this. He produced a strange needle out of nowhere, which he injected into the dead Antennima bird.

"What the…?" Tart at last spoke up. "You can't be serious…"

"Now, Lorraine…" Pie ordered the girl as he squished some liquid chemicals around in a tube that also appeared out of nowhere. "I need you to just turn around for a second…"

"What are you doing?!" Lorraine asked in alarm.

"Don't worry," Pie assured her. "This shouldn't hurt. If it does, then that means something went wrong, but it's not going to!" He loaded the tube of chemicals into a handheld device that looked like a gun with five bullet holes. The chemicals only rested in one of them. Just as Lorraine was beginning to turn around to see what he was doing, he fired the device, and a round bubble-like substance hit her left leg, just below the knee, and went right through her skin and into her body.

---

Lorraine glanced around at the blurry, morphing colors around her. Huh? She said to herself. I'm seeing illusions. What happened? Did I blacken out? Am I drunk? But I didn't even drink anything! Finally, she looked down at her own body and her eyes widened. She had no clothes of any sort on! I must be having a dream, she decided. I've had dreams similar to this before…

Something in the distance began moving towards her, and as it grew closer, she recognized it as a large bird with several eyes and long, trailing antennae. "The…Antennima Bird?" she asked. "What's _that_ thing doing in my dream?" It was getting closer and closer, until she could feel the warmth of its feathers and its wings, wrapped protectively around her.

"Ah…" she whispered to herself. "You're a nice bird…Anty." Then, the creature almost began to shrink, moving closer…moving _into _her. However, Lorraine didn't feel any different as the creature entered her body. Then, the world blinked out, and back into the cold, hard reality of the Xenimis' garage.

---

"So…how are you feeling?" Pie asked. He was standing right next to her, along with Tart and Mrs. Xenimis.

Noticing Tart next to her, Lorraine's mind was completely clear again, and she seized her opportunity. "Oh…" she moaned, putting a hand to her head for dramatic effect. "I feel…faint…" She then flung her body limply towards Tart. His eyes widened and faded to their shocked, honey color as he instinctively reached out and caught her. Lorraine deliberately swooned and snuggled closer to his chest, gripping his loose, red-orange shirt tightly.

"W-What happened?" Tart asked, nervously squeaking under the uncomfortable situation.

Pie, now noticing what was really going on, stepped up next to them, speaking in an intentionally loud voice, "Oh my God! I think I might have hit the wrong spot! Hurry, we have to get her to a _hospital_!"

Instantly, Lorraine's head popped up. "No, no, I'm fine!" She quickly, yet regretfully pulled Tart away, while he stood there, dumbstruck by her sneaky actions. He stepped back a bit, afraid the wild girl would "throw herself" at him again…literally.

"At last…" Mrs. Xenimis chimed in. "I thought you'd never take advantage of the permission Ryou gave you." Lorraine glanced, confusedly over at her.

"Nope," Pie answered, a slightly delighted tone entering his voice. "I've been compiling different samples from the former Palace lab and storing them in Tart's new lab, since mind is so cluttered… Some of them have gone missing though. Anyway, I figured this is the perfect match, since Lorraine is Kish's sister, and the Antennima Bird was Kish's favorite anima."

"Really?" Lorraine asked. "Um…what exactly happened? I saw the bird while I was dreaming…"

"You're now a Mew Mew," Mrs. Xenimis explained. "You have the Antennima Bird's DNA."

Lorraine blinked in puzzlement. "Um…I have that thing's _DNA_?! And…what's a Mew Mew?!" She frantically felt around her face and body, coming to the realization. "I'm a bird! I'm a bird! AUGH!!!"

Mrs. Xenimis chuckled and put a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. You won't turn into a bird. You just have special powers…you'll learn soon. Don't worry, I know exactly how you feel."

Lorraine crossed her arms in frustration. "And how would _you_ know?"

Mrs. Xenimis smiled, mysteriously. "I was a Mew Mew, too. Mew Peach, with the DNA of a giant panda… You know, there's someone who would be very grateful to be in your situation right now…"

"Huh?" Lorraine uttered, still not understanding. She held her hands just under her chin, after checking her face for the third time.

"Speaking of the other Mew Mews…" Tart spoke up, and instantly she was focused only on him. "We ought to get them to help us. If they're still the Mew Mews, that is…" He then turned to Lorraine, who began to "pose" and flutter her eyelashes at him, obviously trying to flirt, to his embarrassment and disgust. "Lorraine…"

"Oh, _please_," she replied, cocking her head and showing off her long, shiny, green hair. "Call me Lori. All my friends do."

Tart's face flushed, more from anger and shame then bashfulness. "Well…_Lori_," he pronounced through gritted teeth. "I think you should stay here at the estate, at least until we create the other Mercury Mew Mews."

"What do you mean "we"?" Pie asked, cocking an eyebrow at his young friend.

"Um…I mean until _Pie and Flan_ create the other Mercury Mew Mews. I'm not that advanced yet…" he hung his head a little at this statement.

"Well," Flan addressed her. "Let's get you settled, then!"

Lorraine protested at being dragged away from Tart, but after she saw her guest room, she forgot all about him. This was better quarters than she'd ever had at the café, and after Flan closed the door behind her, tumbled onto the fluffy bed, squeezing the feather-stuffed pillow to death.

"There's a ball tonight at seven," the kindly mistress had told her before exiting. "I hope to see you there."

A ball! Wow, a real ball!!! Lorraine stared up at the detailed and intricately woven canopy, feeling like a princess. She was so absorbed in her own fantasies that she didn't even notice when a dirt-eating miniature elephant-like creature came in to eat her footprints off the rug.

---

Later that night, Lorraine arrived at the Xenimis' ballroom on the ground floor, dolled up with extra lipstick and eye shadow. The house was so large, it had its own ballroom, and as she stepped inside, felt her heart beating fast. Couples were whirling together around the darkened room; the wooden floor resonated with the taps of various high-heels and dress shoes placing themselves across it.

Lorraine contentedly dove into the crowd. Her lime green eyes morphed into the shining, feline yellow eyes, in order to see clearly in the dim area. The cat "radar" scoped out a particular Mercurian guy standing on the side of the ballroom floor, near the refreshments table. Lorraine decided, of course to make the moves on this guy, and barreled over to his dark corner.

He seemed embarrassed and confused as she wheeled him into the middle of the dance floor. She was pretty, though, and he was soon mesmerized as he watched her fluctuating body and long, swishing hair, flashing emerald in the dim ballroom lights.

Soon, the waltzing couples around them turned to get a look at the strange new girl, jumping like a pop singer around a wooden stage. Two other guests approached, asking the initial guy if they could have his partner. He gladly consented, and bolted from the floor, ashamed, as two other men began energetically dancing with Lorraine.

As more and more people crowded around her, her dance seemed to get even more complicated and acrobatic. At one point, she even flipped around in mid-air while the crowd clapped to the rhythm.

Meanwhile, Tart stepped gingerly around the dance floor. He always went to the Xenimis balls, even though he had no dance partner. For some reason, he just didn't find himself attracted to any of the young ladies around him. Normally, he drifted around, chatting with his buddies from work. At the age of fifteen, he'd graduated from the newly constructed Mercury University, to pass into the scientist profession he had now. Tart was very smart; some considered him a genius, but he was certain he'd never live up to the accomplishments of Pie.

Shortly after winning custody of him at age twenty, Pie had easily become the head of the new Mercury Laboratories, and then four years later, elected as one of the Associates, mainly for his contributions to technology and his former connections with Kish.

Tart looked down on his weak overlook with frustration. He couldn't concentrate at work, he held on to pointless memories, and he had even let those mysterious Mew Mew clones kidnap Jello! He forced a smile and tried to enjoy the party, though on the inside he was yelling at himself. The tension kept growing, so when he noticed the ruckus in the center, glared at Lorraine, who was the center of attention.

"Whoooo!!!" the teenage sister of Kish screamed, then, caught up in the excitement of the moment, ripped off her top, green shirt, leaving a thin brown one underneath, and whirling the green one around her head.

The male crowd gasped and applauded at her strip tease, but Tart was completely outraged. This was no way for a defender of the planet to be acting. "_Lorraine_!!!" he yelled, marching over to the center of the room, and grabbing her arm, forcing her back to the floor. "Just what do you think you're doing?!"

Lorraine, oblivious to his rage, screamed again, and threw her arms around his body. "Taaaaaart!!! You're here! C'mon, baby, let's dance!"

Thankfully, if there was one thing Tart was proud of, it was his increased physical strength, and at this statement, gripped her shoulders, pinning her to the ground. "Look!" he yelled in fury. "This is a _ballroom_, not a freakin' nightclub! Get a hold of yourself! And…don't you ever call me 'baby' again!"

Lorraine just smiled, sheepishly and muttered, "Okay, okay, whatever you say, sergeant…"

Seeing that funny grin on Lorraine's face suddenly took him back to those days… "Oh, God…" Tart said to himself, eyes wide. "It's like Kish was reincarnated as a girl or something…"

Lorraine snapped back up again. "I'm _not _his reincarnation! I'm only his sister! …And some of us don't even _believe _in reincarnation."

Tart shook his dark orange head, and pressed a hand against his forehead. "It's just…you're so much like him, it's scary…"

Looking up from his reminiscences, he noticed something blinking on the wall. Funny…he hadn't noticed any decorative lights there before. That was when it hit him. "Quick!" he called to the crowd of Mercurian ballroom guests. "You must evacuate immediately. Dangerous materials have been identified in this room!"

Of course, this sent a rush of panicked dancers flooding to the double entrance doors, and Lorraine began to run with them, but Tart reached out and grabbed her hand with a firm grip again. "What?!" she cried in alarm. "Are you trying to kill me?! I'll stop dancing…just _please _don't…!"

"Relax," Tart told her, a determined smile flickering onto his face. "You'll see what this is all about in a minute." At last, when all of the other guests had left, and the dim room was empty, the red glow of the light began growing stronger.

"_Oooooh…_" Lorraine said, in an affectionate voice. "You just wanted to get me _alone_, so we could…"

"Shut up!" Tart snapped. "You're so single-minded…now, watch this…" He held out his hands, and shot a bolt of electricity at the light in the wall.

"Wow," Lorraine marveled. "I didn't know you had electric powers, Tart!" She opened her mouth, but before she could say anymore, a giant dark blue bug, resembling a beetle burst through the wall, the red light emanating from a round screen embedded in its chest. Lorraine screamed and hid behind Tart.

Tart just continued to grin. "Recorder beetle. Of course. We always get some of these around when we hold a community party of any sort. You see, Pie is one of the Associates, but not everyone likes him, for some strange fabricated reasons, and they send these bugs to observe us and try to find any evidence to support these convictions."

"So, um…what's this got to do with me?" Lorraine asked, cowardly peering around his shoulder.

"I think you need some training, since you are a new Mew Mew…"

"Yeah…I still don't get that…" she held tight to Tart's back as the beetle shot a laser beam at them, and he zoomed out of the way.

He shoved Lorraine out in front, much to her shock and horror. "Just trust me…yell out 'Mew Mew Lorraine Metamorphosis'."

"Um…Mew Mew…Lorraine…Metamorphosis?" Lorraine slowly spoke up, feeling unsure and stupid as she dodged another attack.

"No!" Tart yelled, even more frustrated. "You need to have more feeling than that! You're never going to defend the planet that way!"

Suddenly, Lorraine stood up straight, recognizing what she must do for the first time. She had to fight this creature back! "Mew Mew Lorraine…Metamorphosis!" In morphing, psychedelic dark greenish lights, Lorraine felt as long, fluffy wings sprang up from her back, a tail from just above her behind, and long, antennae, that arced down the length of her body. Rolling over in the warm, comfortable glow, a strange costume flew onto her body, and raising her arms above her head, a long pole materialized, sitting solidly in her hands. Stepping out of the transformation sequence, Lorraine held the pole to the ground, a strangely determined expression on her face.

She wore a short top, with the straps floating off her shoulders, thin bow ribbons tied up the two pieces of hair in front of her ears, and floating golden rings around her wrists. Her skirt was short and ended in separate, round diamond shapes, with ties on the side, a bit like Tinker Bell, and boots just above her ankles. Not far above, on her right leg, was her symbol, looking like "less than" and "greater than" signs with accenting, slanting lines. Of course, she also had the standard Mew Mew choker, arm puffs, and garter, all in forest green and accented with a lighter green shade, as well as her costume.

"What the heck?!" she cried, noticing the position she was in, and staring down at the brown pole with green ribbons wrapping around it. Then, noticing her pumping, light green wings, screeched, "Augh! I knew it!!! I _am _turning into a bird!!!"

"You're a Mew Mew!" Tart called, annoyed with her inability to comply. "Now…attack that beetle!"

Lorraine stared over at the oversized beetle, and ran for her life as it advanced on her. "Attack it?! _How_?! I don't have any…" She was just about to add the word "weapons", but then stupidly noticed the pole in her hands. She could shove it at the beetle! She could probably whack it to death or something… But, dodging another laser from its center, she realized what she was really supposed to do.

Flying up, and using her wings to assist her, Lorraine held up the pole, preparing for an attack of some sort. "Ribbon Lorraine…" At that moment, she swept the pole down, creating a large green blast of power that spread out towards the beetle creature. "…Thrust!"

The creature burst into pieces and disappeared upon impact. Lorraine sighed and lowered herself to the ground.

"Phew," Tart commented, landing next to her. "There might actually be some hope for you yet."

Lorraine turned her large lime green eyes over to him. "…I still don't get it."

Tart sighed and looked away. Why did he even bother?

Pie and Flan had heard the battle from their room above. They intended to come down near the end of the ball, so they looked half dressed up as they hurried into the ballroom.

"What happened?!" Pie cried, a bit more frantic than normal. After losing his precious daughter to a group of unknown kidnappers, he was becoming paranoid over every little noise.

"Oh, Lori!" Flan called to the girl, still in Mew Mew form. "You've awakened! So…how was your first transformation? You're a powerful, magical girl now, and your job is to find our daughter…and, after that, to defend the planet Mercury!"

Lorraine's eyes widened, finally seeing the reason for her crazy costume and her strange wave attack. "Wait a minute…this wasn't in the job description!"


End file.
